Marzano Lesson Summarizing

This is a really basic lesson that I used with my students to help them summarize books they read. I made a summary frame for book reports that is very similar to the Narrative Frame. Usually with book reports, students would go on and on and retell the whole book, they would give too little information or they would rewrite the back cover. I made a summary frame that included:
1. Characters: Who are the main characters?
2. Setting/ s: Where did most of the book take place?
3. Problem: What was the main problem the characters faced?
4. Solution: How was the problem solved?
5. Opinion: What did you like or dislike about the book?
This became the focus of their book reports. They had to delete minor characters. They had to analyze and report the main setting or settings. They had to think deeply to figure out the main problem and solution. They were able to end with their opinion of the book.
Reflection: Using this simple summary frame really helped my students. They were able to get much better at choosing the most important information, delete unneeded information, practice and come up with a good concise book summary. In the past I have found that it is hard for students to pick the most important information to tell about. Some want to tell every little detail and others tell parts without getting to the plot of the book. This solved my problem with book reports, helped students learn and practice summaries and helped them with thinking and analyzing along with practice story elements.